We meet every Sunday at 10am on the first Sunday of the month, and 10:30am on the remaining Sundays.
We meet in the Bethany Room at High Street
Methodist Church, Witney. Postcode is OX28 6HG.
Our children's group arrangements are currently on hold, as we have no children participating regularly at present, but with advance notice, we can always accommodate children and are happy to do so.

a) Refugee support in Witney. Four Syrian Refugee families have now arrived in Witney and a
family of two adults and three children has been allocated to Witney Quaker
Meeting to befriend, together with a
volunteer from the Catholic church (at weekends). Another family is due to arrive on the 11th
July after their previous flight was cancelled.
The sixth family will arrive in September.

Church and community groups are
befriending the other families. Guidance is given by West Oxfordshire
District Council and Asylum Welcome and Amel Alariqi the interpreter is staying
with the Masons . Transport provided by
Witney Friends is much appreciated and more will be needed as the families
settle in. Hospitality and outings are
being planned by Friends, together with English language teaching organised by
West Oxfordshire District Council.

b) A Report on Sue Bowers’ Memorial meeting was given by Jennifer Barraclough.

There were over 80 people present
and a mixture of music and worship allowed us to remember our Friend in the
most positive way. At Sue’s request a
cheque for £500 has been sent to Witney Local Quaker Meeting and Jennifer has replied sending the thanks
of the whole Local Meeting.

A thank you letter and cheque have been
sent by Sue’s daughter Jenny Johns to
High Street Methodist Church. As Rev. Melanie is away the Church
Representatives have acknowledged the receipt of the cheque and sent warm
appreciation to Jenny.

We have also sent thank you
letters to Mary Burton who arranged the flowers and to Richard Carey the Senior
Steward who organised the PA system and to Keith and Anne Crawford who are
standing in as contacts while Rev. Melanie is away.

16.33 A Poppy Wreath has been ordered by Don Mason from the Royal British
Legion at the cost of £20 to the Meeting.
He will mix white peace poppies in with the red. We
considered the names of two Friends to lay the wreath this year on November 13th
Remembrance Day. We ask Ruth Slade to
undertake this together with Peter Couchman, whom failing, another Friend will be sought by Ruth.

16.34 There has been a request from Revd. Dr. Jason
Boyd re: hosting an afternoon or evening session during the Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity , which is Wednesday
January 18th-Wednesday 25th 2017. It will be the 500th
year of the beginning of the Reformation and the theme is ‘Reconciliation - the
love of Christ compels us’ (2 Corinthians 5, 14-20). The Bethany Room is free from 12 noon until
4pm daily and Monday 23rd January 2017 1.45pm - 3.45pm suits most
Witney Friends. A one hour Meeting for
Worship, partly programmed on the Peace and Reconciliation Theme was
decided. This will be followed by
tea/coffee, cake and Friendly
conversation. Booking has started this month for next year
and Mahalla Mason will book with Bridie Little (the new Centre manager) a s
soon as possible.

16.35 The next S&PC Gathering is September 14th
at 7.30pm at 5 Larch Lane.

The annual Area Meeting’s Elders
and Overseers morning gathering will be October 15th at Burford FMH
at 9.45am for 10.15am start.. Suzette
Hubbert and Mahalla Mason represent
Witney Friends in the Trios planning Group together with Burford and Charlbury
Friends .

16.36 An invitation to Witney Friends to open up
and prepare the Bethany Room for Meeting for Worship on the rota once a month
has been circulated. We are glad to see
that the rota has been covered. A key to
the Wesley Centre will be given to each of the Friends responsible for opening
up. Three new keys will be cut in all,
together with one belonging to the Methodist Church.

We agreed to ask Keith Crawford
if we could use the empty corner cupboard in the kitchen for storage of the
three boxes that we use each week. This
would be both safer and quicker. Our upstairs cupboard will be used for storage.

16.37 After consideration we have removed the
photos of some friends from our photo gallery.
They are those who have moved away or no longer worship with us. The photos will be put in our Album for a
record of their time with us.

We have not removed photographs
of our Friends who have died recently as we do not feel ready to do this at the
moment.

There being no further business our Meeting closed with worship at 12.12pm.

The following statement has been issued on behalf of Quakers in Britain:

The outcome of the EU referendum and the campaigning that led up to it have shown up and sometimes exacerbated divisions within and between our communities. There is now a great need for bridge-building, for reaching out to one another in love, trusting that below the political differences lie a shared humanity and a wish for flourishing communities.
Inequalities run deep in society and some are exposed by the vote. Quakers in England, Scotland and Wales are committed to working together and with others - including Quakers across Europe - for a peaceful and just world. In the coming year our Quaker Yearly Meeting will focus on building movements with others locally and globally. We refuse to prejudge who is or is not an ally.
Turbulent times can be frightening, but the Spirit is a source of strength for all, guiding us in who we are and what we do. We take heart from the knowledge that with change comes opportunity. We will look for creative ways to find common cause, to listen, to influence and to persuade. As the status quo is shaken we and our neighbours must look to one another for support, wisdom and above all ways of healing divisions.